Ancient Icon Of The Virgin Hodigitria – Crete Or Balkans, 16th Century – Egg Tempera On Gold

Rare and precious icon of the Virgin Hodegetria, painted in egg tempera on a solid wood panel with a delicately incised gold leaf background. The Virgin is shown bust-length, pointing to the Christ Child seated on her left arm—an image deeply rooted in Byzantine iconography and widely venerated in the Christian East.

The Christ Child blesses with his right hand and holds a scroll of the Scriptures, clothed in a red himation with gilded highlights. The stylized and hieratic facial expressions, the sacred rigidity of the folds, and the finely tooled goldwork indicate an origin in a post-Byzantine workshop.

The panel is composed of three vertical planks, reinforced with a fixed horizontal brace mortised into the back. This construction is typical of Mediterranean icons (Crete, Greece, Southern Italy), as opposed to the sliding sponki used in Russian panels.

Visible traces of hand tools, the deep patina of the wood, and the absence of modern elements confirm a genuinely antique origin, likely late 16th to 17th century.

The icon was executed using the traditional method of egg tempera, in which natural pigments are bound with a mixture of egg yolk and water. This ancient technique, used since antiquity and throughout the Renaissance, is emblematic of Orthodox icon painting and ensures both brilliance and exceptional durability.

• Egg tempera on gesso (levkas) ground

• Gold leaf background, incised with punchwork

• Painted on raw wood without modern additions

The iconographic and stylistic features are reminiscent of works produced in Venetian Crete, or in the broader post-Byzantine Orthodox world (Macedonia, Epirus, Mount Athos) during the 16th–17th centuries. Such icons were intended for private devotion in Christian homes and followed the sacred canonical forms passed down through the centuries.

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